By Blake Deshazo

The Selma Times-Journal

On New Year’s Day many people will celebrate the new year by making resolutions, but some will celebrate something else. Jan. 1 also marks the anniversary of former president Abraham Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation.

The Selma-Dallas County Emancipation Proclamation Committee will celebrate the 152nd anniversary of the signing on Thursday, Jan. 1 at 11 a.m. at the Tabernacle Baptist Church on Broad Street.

“We celebrate it because it is a landmark in our history for freedom,” said Louretta Wimberly, who plans to attend this year’s ceremony. “We remember that as not only a landmark in our quest for freedom — it was also an opportunity to save the Union to keep the country itself united.”

Lincoln signed the proclamation in 1863, which helped jumpstart the end of slavery.

“When we celebrate the annual celebrations and landmarks in our history, it reminds us how important it is to know your history and your past, so you can learn to live better in the present and work toward a better future,” Wimberly said.

The proclamation stated that “all persons held as slaves are, and henceforward shall be free” in rebellious states.

This year’s ceremony won’t just be about the Emancipation Proclamation.

It will also honor the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday and the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The committee will honor and recognize the families of the Courageous Eight and other people who played a key role in the Civil Rights Movement.

“It is important to know that this is a great landmark period where we’ve come from being slaves, being emancipated … and celebrating 50 years of which Selma was the city that brought about the right to vote and signing of the voter’s rights bill,” Wimberly said.